Analysis
Creativity and innovation are vital for the successful performance of any organization (Anderson, Poto?nik and Zhou, 2014). Creativity and innovation in an organization have become necessary for organizational success, performance and survival in the long run. The concepts of creativity and innovation are complex and are to be carried out with efficient leadership in order to maximize the improved ways of working throughout the lifetime of an organization. The aim of the project is to develop a sustainable organizational culture in Alizz Islamic Bank in Oman that will promote creativity and innovation across the group and organizational levels (Alizz Islamic Bank, 2018).
The research will emphasize on the necessity of organizational creativity and innovation and the possible social and organizational barriers which the bank is currently facing. The report will cover the theories and the creativity and innovation climate in an organization. Most of the organizations have barriers to creativity and innovation which might emerge from organizational structure or perceptions of organizational leaderships. This report will acknowledge the issues faced by Alizz Islamic Bank along with the provision with recommendations to the same.
Analysis
Creativity and Innovation Concepts
Creativity and innovation are the drivers of an efficient and successful organizational growth and development. In recent times, organizations are facing immense pressure to innovate and be creative to achieve competitive advantage in the cut-throat competitive market. Creativity and innovation may often sound synonymous to each other. However, both are two different concepts with different definitions. Creativity is the ability to produce new and original ideas which leads to innovation in the subsequent stages. Whereas innovation refers to creation of new ideas and effectively implement it. Creativity and innovation can occur at different levels of an organization starting from an individual to team and to the organization.
There are six theoretical models on creativity and innovation that are affected by various components that contribute to creativity and innovation. The Componential theory of Organizational creativity and innovation focuses on the factors that impact individuals and team activities (Amabile, 2011). The Interactionist Perspective of Organizational Creativity stresses upon creativity at each level of organization (Glover, Ronning and Reynolds, 2013). The Model of Individual Creative Action states where employees can either chose being creative or follow their daily routine (Richter, Hirst, Van Knippenberg and Baer, 2012).
Another theory on differences in culture and creativity which takes the multi-level approach of a team as well as the organization. The Four factor theory of Team Climate for Innovation is widely used for team innovation research. The Ambidexterity Theory focuses on successful management of creation of new products or ideas and implementation of those ideas. These six frameworks use the determinants of innovation and creativity differently and propose suggestions in developing the culture of the organization.
Social and organizational barriers to organizational creativity and innovation
Organizational always try to minimize the risk either by figuring out the solution to the problem or completely avoiding the risks. Although various strategies are used for risk avoidance but they often kill the creativity. Companies become risk averse and hence creativity cannot be suggested to figure out the solution to the barriers. Financial institutions like the Alizz Islamic Bank in Oman should learn to introduce new ideas without fearing the risks.
Creativity and Innovation Concepts
Conservative Leadership not only becomes a barrier for the organizational productivity but also leads to failure in creation of new ideas. The Alizz Islamic Bank should also analyze the risks and assess the impact of those risks. Inadequate funding can often lead to suppressing of organizational creativity and innovation. Employees can also face the issue of giving their best at work by their different thinking. This situation kills the creativity in the employee.
Climate Forecasting and Innovation
The different aspects of the psychological atmosphere within the surrounding environment of an environment and an organizational team. Often, certain expectations are conveyed by the climate regarding the acceptance of various attitudes and behavior. Several attempts have been made for conceptualizing the idea of a creating a creative climate that is climate for the facilitation of creative outcomes. During the past years, several components of creating a climate of creativity have been proposed. Instances are psychological safety, individual freedom, positive and relationship support within members in the team and guidance provided by managers, clarity of mission, resources availability, creative encouragement, and joy (Denti, 2011).
There are several components of creating a creative climate that are considered to be crucial in the prediction of innovative and creative outcomes. In order to identify such components, studies on meta-analytics on the factors influencing innovation and creativity should be scrutinized (Hunter, Bedell and Mumford, 2007). These meta-analytic studies is able to detect effects various settings because the overall results are combined from a huge amount of studies. These components are challenges, intellectual debate, top management support, positive superior-subordinate relations, flexibility and risk taking and positive exchange interpersonal skills.
Creative Leadership
Creative leadership is defined as an act or a philosophy which helps in developing and realizing certain innovative ideas by the means of shared ambition of improvement of the world through formation of enterprises. Creative leadership is employed by forging and environment which promotes and encourages mission-driven entrepreneurship and innovative thinking (Day, 2014). The need for creative leadership cannot be pin down to competitive advantage since it has different layers.
The best kind of creativity is derived out of a person’s desire of contributing to other’s lives either by showing people that something which is considered in possible can be possible or by introducing something new which can improve the quality of the lives of the people. When the perceptions of people are changed regarding what can be achieved accomplished, contributions are also made to their humanity in the best possible ways as they receive hope for the future (Hennessey and Watson, 2016).
Role of HRM in promoting or inhibit creativity and innovation
There are various ways by whose means human resource can help in can promote and inhibit creativity and innovation at workplace. Firstly, people should be rewarded for innovation by the means of engaging them into more work or via autonomy. The motivation to creative minds is not always done with money, because for them the real reward is more work. The creative minds should be allowed space and flexibility for creation. A structured or formalized review process of idea innovation should be put in place.
Social and Organizational Barriers to Organizational Creativity and Innovation
Adequate internal training should be provided for creativity and innovation practices. The levels of innovation and creativity vary from person to person. The employees should be provided with tools, time, settings and training for addressing specific business challenges in innovative ways. A HRM can develop a formal program for finding and promoting innovative/creative products or ideas (Cameron and Quinn, 2011). A potential area of improvement can be the financial rewards provided by organizations for innovation. Innovation should be tied with individual bonuses or salary increase. The HRM ensures that innovation is included in the leadership development plans of an organization as a major competency.
Conclusion
The aim of the report was to develop a sustainable organizational culture of Alizz Islamic Bank in Oman to promote creativity and innovation at all levels of the organization. The above literature helps to understand the concepts with regards to organizational creativity and innovation developed by different scholars are crucial to organizational sustainability in the market for long-run. This can be only achieved by the organization by developing a structure and culture of creativity and innovation. The Alizza Islamic bank can develop by use of effective channels of communication and increased level of patience which is absolutely necessary for its survival.
The collection of creative minds should be acknowledged otherwise it will be difficult to keep them motivated and engaged in their work. This might need the bank to enhance leadership qualities of its managers and maintain harmony within the groups or teams. The bank should have brainstorming sessions and implementation of reward system is also advisable. Creativity and innovation are always a positive of any organization which determines its success and prosperity in the coming years.
The objective of the report will be achieved by creating strategies and contingency plans for the bank. It is always important for financial institutions to consider the potential risks which is determined on the basis of the organizational structure and its assets. A list of priority resources is to be created at the time of financial distress. Delegating the responsibility, and having alternative sources of credit is also necessary. Backing up of data and reviewing the changes will help transform over time.
Recommendation
It often happens that, the human factor is not taken into consideration by most banks and financial institution while the development of the products and services. However, these days financial institutions are rapidly taking into account the human factor by the usage of proven strategies of business management so fostering a greater level of innovation and creativity within the organizations. This is known as design thinking. It is one of the best methods of bringing about creativity and innovation within the organizational structure of financial institutions. It is about the application of principles of design to the way people interact with the external world.
It’s a repetitive procedure where problems are redefined in an attempt of identification of alternative solutions. The Alizz Islamic Bank can adopt this method to bring creativity in its systems. It revolves around deep interest in the development of an understanding of the target consumers for whom the products and services are designed. It helps in organization in observing in developing empathy with the customers.
This is the opposite of how banks actually work and design their products and services. The financial institutions focus on developing products for meeting their own operational efficiencies and internal processes, instead of focusing on the experience of the consumers. The problems of the customers are often not addressed and solved by the traditional methods used by banks. In theory, design thinking helps in solving such problems of the customers. Hence, design thinking should be used by an Alizz Islamic Bank for establishing and developing creativity and innovation within the organization climate.
Reference List
Alizz Islamic Bank, 2018. Overview. [pdf] Available at: <https://alizzislamic.com/About-Us/Overview> [Accessed 20 December 2018]
Amabile, T., 2011. Componential theory of creativity. 2nd ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School.
Cameron, K.S. and Quinn, R.E., 2011. Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. 4th ed. New Jersey, United States of America: John Wiley & Sons.
Day, D.V. ed., 2014. The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations. 3rd ed. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford Library of Psychology.
Denti, L., 2011. Leadership and Innovation: How and when do Leaders Influence Innovation in R & D Teams (Doctoral dissertation, Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg).
Glover, J.A., Ronning, R.R. and Reynolds, C.R. eds., 2013. Handbook of creativity. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science & Business Media.
Hennessey, B.A. and Watson, M.W., 2016. The defragmentation of creativity: Future directions with an emphasis on educational applications. In Multidisciplinary contributions to the science of creative thinking (pp. 21-31). Springer, Singapore.
Hunter, S.T., Bedell, K.E. and Mumford, M.D., 2007. Climate for creativity: A quantitative review. Creativity research journal, 19(1), pp.69-90.
Richter, A.W., Hirst, G., Van Knippenberg, D. and Baer, M., 2012. Creative self-efficacy and individual creativity in team contexts: Cross-level interactions with team informational resources. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(6), p.1282.
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